Does character building have an impact on children under five years of age?
Background and The Purpose
A character building program in the early childhood age is at the heart of the curriculum. It instills positivity and motivation for learning in kids. Available research has stated that truthful and positive relationship between children and adults is a key to positive character building in children.
Apparently, budding minds are duly affected by the events they see and experience. For instance, children who are bullied in their childhood are likely to be more passive, anxious, and sensitive than their counterparts. They tend to get depressed soon or may have a quiet temperament. Kohlberg's stages of moral development reveal that children( between 9 -15 years) often follow the moral rules set by their parents.
The latest article published in news daily presents a story of a nine years old girl who started imitating her mother in sharing her things with six years old daughter of their house help. The article clearly reflects that character building does impart a significant impact on children's mind irrespective of their age. Parents who instill values like compassion and empathy at a very young age actually help them get ready for their later lives.
As it is clear that young minds imperatively affected by positive character building interventions, little research has been done till now to fathom these impacts particularly under the age of five. This research paper attempts to fill the existing gap by exploring the effects specifically on this age group.
Research Objectives
Examining the available literature on the impact of character building in kids.
Suggesting a research framework.
Exploring character building interventions that can positively affect young minds.
Research questions
1. How the concept of character building relates to kids under five years of age?
2. What are the character building techniques that can be employed to have a maximum positive impact on children below five years?
3. What is the role of educators and parents in making a positive impact on young minds?
Research Methodology
This paper will be qualitative, and the researcher open-ended questions will be used to have in-depth views on the topic under discussion. To be specific, I will interview 30 people( 15 educators and 15 parents) to have detailed perceptions on the impact of character building in kids.
The paper, being qualitative, will use unstructured approach. That is, the questionnaire is designed to fathom respondents' minds on the topic and will form the basis of primary data collection. Secondary data will be gathered from peer-reviewed articles, journals, books, and other academic resources. The analysis will be done manually by discerning some common themes from the collected responses.
Ethical Concerns
I have duly taken care to address issues as informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, intrusiveness, and anonymity. Participants were informed regarding the purpose of questioning, and they were given the option to participate or not. There were no penalties if any participants opted to quit in-between. Likewise, confidentiality was maintained throughout and the information provided was not shared with the third party.
I have tried the best to make data interpretation in a non-judgmental and transparent manner. Still, things are not so simple as they look. There are possibilities of subjectivity and information leakage. Employees may also find some questions too invasive to answer.
Research Limitations
Research might have few issues with generalizability, objectivity, reliability, and the quantification. I feel that generalizing the results is difficult on the basis of just 30 people. Also, responses have been analyzed manually without the use of any software. It hikes the possibility of bias and misinterpretation. The presence of researcher may crop up the issues of subjectivity though all efforts have been done to minimize that.
Thus, I do not promise a fool-proof paper, though I can assure the maximum possible effectiveness in the given circumstances. For the purpose of increasing transparency, I have resorted to peer debriefing, i.e., discussing the data and research findings with colleagues at various stages to enhance credibility.
